Today I flew from Singapore to Brisbane. Great because it was a direct flight, still ok over 10 hours. The great thing is that it was off by only a couple of hours, so no jet leg! A first in the years I’ve been coming here to visit my sister, Summer.
I love Brisbane. A medium city, with a river running through it and Summer only 10 or so minutes from the bay and great walking along the water. I also really love being at Summer’s. It feels like home, growing up in Houston and a lot of time in Galveston. Warm, humid, house up on stilts. She has a huge backyard with crazy birds who come and sometimes get to finish off her dog’s food. They have a lot to say about breakfast options!
That bush in the corner of the porch was a tiny little plant only 5 years ago. Grew out of a pot. Plants and birds are very happy here!
We also went to Wynnum Mangrove Boardwalk, a great park with a big dog park and a boardwalk that goes alongside the mangroves. It is Australia, so the spiders are here – though this was well off from the boardwalk.
Then Summer and I got to go for a few days to the Whitsunday Islands in the Great Barrier Reef. This place was cool, we took a boat straight from the airport. That was cool to roll our bags out the airport to the dock. And then we’re off!
It threatened weather, but only rained at night. I loved being out far enough that land looked distant.
Tons of Cockatoos serenading us at meals at the restaurant (and hoping for food, I saw one take a half a sandwich off a plate).
The place we stayed was great, The Hayman. It had the whole tiny island and kept it pretty wild except for the resort itself. The place did a really nice management of having a lot of people and yet creating so many spots of serenity.
It was quite hot, but the mornings were gorgeous and you could always come back from a hike up Mount Rooper, the hill that took up the interior of the island, and jump in the pool. Which I did!
Starting off my hike I kept hearing giant thumps like the sounds in one of the chapters from the Dawn Treader in the Narnian Chronicles. Turned out to be one footed cheerful funny creatures. Wallabies sounded the same, but looked differently!
From the top:
Back to Brisbane for one more wonderful night at Summer’s and then home. An incredible trip!
Reb's Walks! 